Happy Birthday Colin

Our regular MC, Colin (Photo:Simon Meeds)

Well, MC Colin's birthday session last Friday was certainly something. He brought with him six non-performing family members who complemented the four singers. Not only was the audience good but it was one of those sessions where talk was kept to a minimum and therefore we got through 43 songs, which must be a recent, though no doubt not all-time record.

Colin started off with a Richard Digance song, Spider In The Sink. He returned to Digance later with I've Won The Lottery. Meanwhile Simon followed an awkward arachnid with an equally problematic mustelid, singing Derek Jolly's My Grandfather's Ferret.

Derek gave us two topical songs before permitting the visitors some light entertainment. The topics were The Donibristle Mine Disaster (Roud 3509) of 26 August 1901 and the Dublin Lock-out which started on 26 August 1913 - The Ballad Of James Larkin (Donagh McDonagh).

Jackanory - I'll tell you a story

(Photo: Luca Barcellona)

We started last week's session with good news from Mike that he had had his operation and was "comfortable". We wish him a speedy recovery and an early return to the fold in good health and excellent voice.

We may have been a man down but the four of us who were left kept the singing going. Colin in particular, MC as usual, started the ball rolling with Eight Bells (Roud 13268). Still on the sea, Simon took us Sailing To Philadelphia with Mark Knopfler. From the sea we followed Geoff onto the rails with Roger Miller's King Of The Road.

Derek decided to pick up a theme from a couple of weeks before when he was not present, singing children's songs:

Make way for Fred

Fred Jordan

That's more like it... we were definitely quorate last week with the return of Geoff from a chessing sojourn, and a visit from Tom. Unfortunately, Rose, the reason for Tom's visit, wasn't with us, concerned as she was about the promised extreme weather. It wasn't really that bad on Friday night in the end. Anyway, we hope to see her sometime in the not-too-distant future.

Colin, taking his usual seat as MC, started us off with The Son Of A Gambolier (Charles Ives). As predicted, Mike walked in with Indy the dog while he was singing.

Tom gave us Across The Great Divide from one of his favourite singer-songwriters, Kate Wolf. Kate died in 1986 at the age of 44, Tom says, towards the end of what had seemed a successful course of treatment for leukaemia.

Calm down children

Children of BALPA performing at Thornbury Carnival, 2019
(Photo: Simon Meeds)

We really were scraping the barrel last Friday, starting the evening with three singers, and dropping to two before the break. You will understand then why there were fewer songs sung than usual and we called it a night when the break would usually have been.

Colin started us off with a parody of Wild Rover (Roud 1173) - Song Of The F.U. (The Kipper Family). Here FU stands for Farmers' Union. As far as I can work out, the union was the NFU from its formation in 1908, so I guess the "N" just didn't scan or maybe there is a contrary message in there somewhere?